Daytrading, Eminis, Forex trading, Swing Trading Market Analysis - 496555

The U.S. Department of Commerce said in its report that new orders for manufactured goods rose 0.

9% in November following a revised 4.5% decline in October. Economists had expected orders to increase 1.

4% compared to the 4.7% decrease originally reported for the previous month. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of business activity in the services sector fell to 57.

1 in December from 58.9 in November, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the sector. Economists had expected the index to fall to 57.

0. A smaller-than-expected rise in factory orders and slower growth in services added to concerns about the strength of the world's largest economy and corporate profits going forward. The publication late on Wednesday of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's last monetary meeting had already hurt sentiment.

Fed officials noted increased risks to economic growth. Crude for February delivery slipped $1.49 to $56.

83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after a U.S. government report showed that inventories of gasoline, heating oil and diesel fuel rose more than analysts expected during the last week of 2006.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed 0.3% lower at 1,499.03 points, while the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index fell 0.

1% to 3,759.55 points. Around Europe, the U.

K.'s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.51% to 6,287.

00, while France's CAC 40 index dropped 0.65% to 5,574.56 and Germany's DAX index fell 0.

25% to 6,674.40. Heavily weighted oil stocks slipped after crude oil prices tumbled below $57 a barrel.

BP, Europe's biggest oil company, dropped 1.2%, while Royal/Dutch shell, the second biggest, and Total, the third biggest, both slipped 2%. Similarly, mining stocks tumbled after copper prices fell.

BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, fell 3.5%, while Anglo American, the second biggest, declined 2.4% and Rio Tinto, the third biggest, dropped 4%.

Copper miner Antofagasta lost 3.9%. DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth largest automaker, fell 0.

7% after the company said its U.S. sales in December fell 1%, hurt by weakness in its Mercedes-Benz division.

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, slipped 2% after the company said U.S. sales in December dropped 23%, as demand for the new Passat and Jetta models waned.

On the other hand, German drugs and chemicals maker Merck KgaA climbed 6.5% on talk that the company was planning to sell its generic drugs business.